When the ground shakes in South Texas, it’s usually not an earthquake; it’s the oil and gas industry doing what it does best. San Antonio sits right on the edge of the Eagle Ford Shale, one of the most productive oilfields in the country.
That black gold brings jobs, money, and growth to the region, but it also brings danger. When an oilfield accident occurs, the injuries are often catastrophic. Figuring out who’s legally responsible isn’t as straightforward as pointing a finger at your boss. In Texas, the web of liability stretches across multiple companies, contractors, and equipment manufacturers.
What causes most oilfield accidents in Texas?
Understanding who can be held liable starts with understanding what actually goes wrong out there. Accidents can be prevented when companies prioritize safety over speed. The oilfield rewards fast production, but that pressure creates an environment where corners get cut, and people get hurt. The most common causes include:
- Rushing under deadline pressure: When bonuses depend on drilling speed, workers skip safety steps, and supervisors look the other way.
- Inadequate training: New hires are thrown into dangerous jobs without proper instruction on equipment operation or hazard recognition.
- Equipment maintenance failures: Aging machinery pushed past safe operating limits because replacement parts are expensive, and downtime costs money.
- Fatigue from long shifts: 12-hour rotations stretching into 16 hours, especially during boom periods when qualified workers are scarce.
- Communication breakdowns between crews: Multiple contractors working the same site without clear coordination on who's responsible for what.
- Failure to follow lockout/tagout procedures: Energy sources not properly isolated before maintenance, leading to sudden pressure releases or moving parts.
- Drug and alcohol use: Substance abuse in a workforce dealing with isolation, physical pain, and high-stress conditions.
What parties can be held accountable for an oilfield accident?
Liability in an oilfield accident can extend beyond your employer to other on-site players, depending on control, fault, and contractual duties. In Texas, the nuance between workers’ compensation status (subscriber vs. non-subscriber) and who controlled safety operations often determines who can be sued and for what damages.
Employers
Here’s where Texas throws workers a curveball. Unlike every other state in the union, Texas doesn’t force private employers to carry workers’ compensation insurance. Your boss either opted into the state system, or they’re what we call a “non-subscriber.” This distinction changes everything about your case.
If your employer carries workers’ comp, you’re generally barred from suing them directly for negligence. You file a claim, get your medical bills covered, and a portion of your lost wages.
The trade-off is speed and certainty. You don’t have to prove fault, but you also can’t recover for pain and suffering or for full wage replacement. However, even with workers’ comp coverage, you retain the right to sue third parties who contributed to your accident.
Now, if your employer is a non-subscriber, they lose the “exclusive remedy” protection and can be sued directly for negligence. They also lose common-law defenses such as assumption of risk and contributory negligence. If they’re even 1% at fault, they can be on the hook for 100% of your damages, including the full spectrum of pain and suffering, and mental anguish.
Other companies on-site
Modern oilfield operations are like small cities populated by dozens of different companies. You’ve got:
- The operator who owns the lease
- The drilling contractor who runs the rig
- Specialized crews for cementing and well completion
- Trucking companies hauling equipment
- Water, maintenance vendors, and safety consultants
Additionally, the general contractor or site operator typically controls the overall safety program. They’re responsible for coordinating between different trades and ensuring that hazards created by one crew don’t endanger another. If they fail to address known dangers, they can be held liable even if they weren’t directly supervising the work that caused your injury.
Then there are the subcontractors. Maybe a cementing company used the wrong mixture, leading to a blowout, or a well service crew bypassed safety lockouts to save time. These companies owe independent duties to everyone on site, not just their own employees. Trucking companies are another common source of liability. Third-party drivers hauling equipment or wastewater often cause serious oilfield accidents on narrow ranch roads, and their employers can be sued separately from your own.
Equipment manufacturers
Oilfield equipment operates under extreme pressures and temperatures. When it fails, the consequences are devastating. Product liability claims against manufacturers follow different rules than negligence claims against employers. You don’t necessarily have to prove the company was careless; you only need to show the equipment was defective when it left their hands.
Design defects are common in blowout preventers, valves, and wellhead components that weren’t engineered to handle the specific conditions of the Eagle Ford Shale. Manufacturing defects occur when quality control slips and a component fails under stress. Then there are failure-to-warn cases, where manufacturers don’t provide adequate instructions about maintenance schedules or pressure limitations.
The challenge with equipment cases is preserving evidence. After an oilfield accident, companies often scramble to repair or replace damaged equipment. If that happens before you’ve had a chance to document the failure, your case becomes much harder to prove. That’s why immediate legal intervention matters. A lawyer can obtain court orders to prevent spoliation and bring in petroleum engineers who understand exactly what went wrong.
Landowners
Texas law recognizes that property owners who lease their land for oil and gas operations retain certain safety obligations. Under the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, landowners must warn oil companies about known hazards on the property, such as unstable ground, buried pipelines, or inadequate access roads that could affect operations.
However, landowners get significant protection if they merely lease the property and don’t retain control over the work. The law presumes that the oil company and its contractors are better positioned to manage the specific risks of drilling and production. To overcome this presumption, you typically need to show that the landowner had actual knowledge of a dangerous condition, had a contractual right to control safety, or personally participated in creating the hazard.
How does Texas law handle multiple responsible parties?
In many oilfield accidents, fault isn’t limited to just one person or company. Texas follows a modified comparative fault system (often called the "51% Bar Rule"). This means that if multiple parties, such as an equipment manufacturer and a third-party contractor, both contributed to your injury, a jury will assign a percentage of responsibility to each.
As long as you are not more than 50% responsible for your own accident, you can recover damages from the other negligent parties. However, navigating these "multi-party" lawsuits is notoriously difficult. Each company will hire its own legal team to point the finger at someone else, trying to shift the blame to avoid a payout. To secure a fair recovery, you need a comprehensive investigation that identifies every possible source of liability and holds them accountable according to their percentage of fault.
Demand Accountability for Your Texas Oilfield Injury
If you’ve been hurt in an oilfield accident in San Antonio or anywhere in the Eagle Ford Shale, you shouldn’t have to fight billion-dollar energy companies alone. At The Herrera Law Firm, we have spent decades standing by the men and women who keep Texas moving. We understand that in the oilfield, an injury doesn't just affect you, it affects the family that relies on your hard work.
Our experienced team knows how to untangle the web of contractors, subcontractors, and manufacturers to find the truth. We offer a free, no-obligation consultation to discuss your accident, and because we work on a contingency-fee basis, you don't pay us a dime unless we win your case.
Contact us today to begin your free case evaluation. We’ll help you secure the evidence, bring in the experts, and pursue the full compensation you deserve under Texas law.
